Toyota 4Runner: If your vehicle overheats

If your engine overheats:

Stop the vehicle in a safe place
and turn off the air conditioning system.

Check to see if steam is coming
out from under the hood.

If you see steam:

Stop the engine. Carefully lift the hood after the steam subsides and then restart the engine.

If you do not see steam:

Leave the engine running and carefully lift the hood.

Check to see if the cooling fan
is operating.

If the fan is operating:

Wait until the temperature of the engine (shown on the instrument panel) begins to fall and then stop the engine.

If the fan is not operating:

Stop the engine immediately and call your Toyota dealer.

After the engine has cooled down sufficiently, check the engine coolant level and inspect the radiator core (radiator) for any leaks.

If the engine compartment cover needs to be removed.

Add engine coolant if necessary.

Water can be used in an emergency if engine coolant is unavailable.

Have the vehicle inspected at the nearest Toyota dealer as soon as possible.

Overheating

If you observe the following, your vehicle may be overheating:

• The engine coolant temperature gauge enters the red zone or a loss of power is experienced.

• Steam comes out from under the hood.

CAUTION

To prevent an accident or injury when inspecting under the hood of your vehicle

• If steam is seen coming from under the hood, do not open the hood until the steam has subsided. The engine compartment may be very hot, causing serious injuries such as burns.

• Keep hands and clothing away from the fan and drive belt while the engine is running.

• Do not loosen the radiator cap, or coolant reservoir cap while the engine and radiator are hot.

Serious injury, such as burns, may result from hot coolant and steam released under pressure.

NOTICE

When adding engine coolant

Wait until the engine has cooled down before adding engine coolant.

When adding coolant, do so slowly. Adding cool coolant to a hot engine too quickly can cause damage to the engine.